Dialog management system for using multiple artificial intelligence service providers

ABSTRACT

Implementations of the present disclosure include methods, systems, and computer-readable storage mediums for utilizing multiple AI service providers by a dialog management system. The dialog management system can include a dispatcher bot, multiple worker bots, and multiple AI adapters that are each associated with a different cloud-based AI service provider. In response to receiving a query, the dispatcher bot selects a particular worker bot to handle the query. The particular worker bot is assigned to a particular AI service provider. An AI adapter associated with the particular AI service provider, generates a query message based on the query. The AI adapter sends the query message to the particular AI service provider and receives a response message. The dialog management system sends a representation of the response message to the particular worker bot, receives an answer for the query from the particular worker bot, and provides the answer for output.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/453,428, filed Jun. 26, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 16/199,345, filed Nov. 26, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No.10,381,006, issued Aug. 13, 2019. The complete disclosures of all of theabove patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in theirentirety for all purposes.

BACKGROUND

A computer-implemented dialog system can engage in dialogues with users.Dialog systems have been particularly helpful in customer service,sales, and marketing, for example, to answer user questions (e.g., overthe phone) or direct the users to proper solutions (e.g., by providing aURL address). A dialog system may use an artificial intelligence (AI)service that is capable of natural language processing userconversations. Such a system may include bots (e.g., chatbots) that usethe output of the AI service to continue dialogues with the users. Forexample, a bot may use the output of the AI service to conduct a searchand find an answer for a user question.

SUMMARY

Implementations of the present disclosure are directed to dialogmanagement systems capable of utilizing multiple artificial intelligence(AI) service providers. The dialog management system can use differentAI service providers for different dialogues with users.

Some implementations perform actions that include receiving, by achannel adapter of a dialog management system, a query, the dialogmanagement system including (i) the channel adaptor, (ii) a dispatcherbot, (iii) multiple worker bots, (iv) multiple AI adapters that are eachassociated with a different cloud-based AI service provider, and (v) aknowledge retriever; selecting, by the dispatcher bot, a particularworker bot to handle the query, the particular worker bot being assignedto a particular cloud-based AI service provider that is configured toprovide a natural language processing of the query; generating, by aparticular AI adapter that is associated with the particular cloud-basedAI service, a query message based on the query; sending, by theparticular AI adapter, the query message to the particular cloud-basedAI service provider; receiving, by the particular AI adapter, a responsemessage from the particular cloud-based AI service provider, theresponse message includes first data that indicates content of the querymessage; generating, by the particular AI adapter, a representation ofthe response message that is consumable by the knowledge retriever;sending, by the knowledge retriever, the representation of the responsemessage to the particular worker bot, and in response: receiving, by theknowledge retriever, an answer for the query from the particular workerbot, and forwarding the answer to the channel adapter; and providing, bythe channel adapter, the answer for output. Other implementationsinclude corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs,configured to perform the actions of the methods, encoded on computerstorage devices.

These and other implementations may each optionally include one or moreof the following features: dispatcher bot determines the particularworker bot based on a keyword analysis of the query; the dispatcher botperforms speech recognition on the query; actions further includeconsulting, by the dispatcher bot, a list of cloud-based AI serviceproviders that are indicated as capable of determining content of thequery; the dispatcher bot selects a highest ranking AI service providerfrom among multiple candidate AI service providers that are indicated ascapable of determining content of the query; generating query messageincludes reformatting the query into a format that is capable of beingconsumed by the particular cloud-based AI service provider; generatingthe query message includes adding context data that is derived fromprior interactions with a user that submitted the query; generating thequery message includes adding user profile information; generating therepresentation of the response message includes reformatting theresponse message into a standard format that is associated with theknowledge retriever; generating the representation of the responsemessage includes discarding second data that is included in the responsebut is not used by the particular worker bot for generating the answer;the first data includes information about intent associated with thequery; generating the representation of the response message includesdiscarding second data that is included in the response but is not usedby the knowledge-retriever for providing the answer; providing theanswer includes providing, for display, a representation of the answerfor output to a user that asked the query.

The present disclosure also provides one or more non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium coupled to one or more processors andhaving instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one ormore processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operationsin accordance with implementations of the methods provided herein.

The present disclosure further provides a system for implementing themethods provided herein. The system includes one or more processors, anda computer-readable storage medium coupled to the one or more processorshaving instructions stored thereon which, when executed by the one ormore processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operationsin accordance with implementations of the methods provided herein.

Implementations of the present disclosure provide one or more of thefollowing technical advantages and/or technical improvements overpreviously available solutions. Unlike a dialog system that has noflexibility in using different AI service providers, implementations ofthe present disclosure provide a dialog management system that iscapable of utilizing multiple AI service providers, includingthird-party AI service providers, cloud-based AI service providers, andinternal AI service providers. Bots of a dialog system that has noflexibility in using different AI service providers, have to use the AIservice provider to which the bots were assigned. Accordingly, a botcontinues to use the same AI service provider even if a better AIservice provider is available.

Implementations of the present disclosure provide the ability of usingmultiple AI service providers and switching between them. The presentdialog management system can review performance (e.g., efficiency,speed, quality, accuracy, etc.) and/or cost of using different AIservice providers and decide which AI service provider to use.Accordingly, the present dialog management system can switch between theAI service providers and add or remove an AI service provider to improveits performance in conducting dialogues with users.

In addition, the present dialog management system can associatedifferent bots to different AI service providers. Accordingly, two botsin the dialog management system can be associated to two different AIservice providers. Further, the present dialog management system canselect an AI service provider based on data associated with the dialoguesuch as user profile information of the user engaged with the dialogue,subject matter of the dialogue, time of dialogue, etc. For example, thedialog management system may determine that compared to other AI serviceproviders, a particular AI service provider provides a more accurateservice for queries in a particular language. Accordingly, the dialogmanagement system can select the particular AI service provider tosupport dialogues that are in the particular language, or to supportqueries submitted by users in a geographical region that speak theparticular language.

Methods in accordance with the present disclosure may include anycombination of the aspects and features described herein. That is,methods in accordance with the present disclosure are not limited to thecombinations of aspects and features specifically described herein, butalso include any combination of the aspects and features provided.

The details of one or more implementations of the present disclosure areset forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Otherfeatures and advantages of the present disclosure will be apparent fromthe description and drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an example conceptual architecture of a dialog managementsystem in accordance with implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 depicts an example process that can be executed in accordancewith implementations of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 depicts a schematic diagram of an example computing systemaccording to the implementations of the present disclosure.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Implementations of the present disclosure are directed to dialogmanagement systems that are capable of using multiple AI serviceproviders. A dialog management system can use different AI serviceproviders to support different dialogues with users. The AI serviceproviders can include cloud-based AI service providers, third party AIservice providers, or AI service providers internal to the dialogmanagement system. The AI service providers are capable of performingnatural language processing on the conversations (or queries) submittedby the users. Examples of AI service providers include, but is notlimited to IBM WATSON, GOOGLE DIALOGFLOW, MICROSOFT BOT FRAMEWORK.

In this application, “conversation” and “query” are used interchangeablyand include information or questions submitted by users of the dialogmanagement system as part of a dialogue with the system. A user cansubmit conversations or queries in form of a text, audio, or video file.In response, the dialog management system provides an “answer” or“solution” to the user.

FIG. 1 depicts an architecture of a dialog management system 100 inaccordance with implementations of the present disclosure. The exampledialog management system 100 provides one or more answers to the queriesreceived from users (e.g., user 106, 108). The dialog management system100 routes each query to a particular Artificial Intelligence (AI)service provider based on the content of the query. Accordingly, twoqueries with different contents may be routed to different AI serviceproviders. For example, the dialog management system 100 can route aquery received from the user device 102 to AI service provider A 140 anda query received from the user device 104 to AI service provider B 142.

The dialog management system 100 includes a channel adapter 112, adispatcher bot 114, a group of worker bots 120, a group of AI adaptors130, and a knowledge retriever 150 module. The dialog management systemreceives queries from user devices through channel adapter 112. Thechannel adapter 112 forwards the queries to the dispatcher bot 114. Foreach query, the dispatcher bot (which is also referred to by thisspecification as a “choreographer”) decides which worker bot in thegroup of worker bots 120 should handle the query.

Each worker bot is associated with a particular AI service provider. Aworker bot communicates with a respective AI service provider through anAI adapter associated with the respective AI service provider. An AIservice provider receives a query message from a respective AI adapterand provides a response message to the same AI adapter. The AI adaptersends the response message (or part of the response message) to theknowledge retriever 150 (which is also referred to by this specificationas a “conversation flow manager”).

The knowledge retriever communicates with the worker bot that wasselected by the dispatcher bot, to provide a solution to the query. Theknowledge retriever 150 communicates the solution to the channel adapter112 to provide the solution to the user who submitted the query.

The group of worker bots 120 includes worker bot A 122, worker bot B124, and worker bot X 126. The group of worker bots 120 may include moreor fewer worker bots than is illustrated in FIG. 1. Each worker bot canbe associated with one or more particular tasks, functions, or subjectmatters. For example, one worker bot may be associated with billing,another with accounting, another with medical issues, etc.

Implementations of the present disclosure are described in furtherdetail herein with reference to an example context. The example contextincludes receiving a first query from a user account associated withuser 106, and a second query from a user account associated with user108. The first query inquires how to pay a cable bill online, and thesecond query inquires the best brands for a particular medicine. It iscontemplated, however, that implementations of the present disclosurecan be realized with any appropriate context.

The dispatcher bot 114 selects a worker bot to handle a query dependingon how relevant the query is to the function, tasks, and/or subjectmatters that the worker bot can handle. For example, the dispatcher bot114 may determine that a query received from the user device 102 isabout paying a bill and the query received from the user device 104 isabout taking a medicine. The dispatcher bot checks which worker bots inthe group of worker bots 120 are related to billing and which workerbots are related to medical issue. The dispatcher bot can make such adetermination by using a look up table that has a record of the workerbots and the subject matters that each worker bot can handle. Thedispatcher bot 114 can determine that worker bot A 122 is associatedwith billing questions and worker bot X 126 is associated with medicalissues. Accordingly, the dispatcher bot forwards the first query to theworker bot A 122, and the second query to the worker bot X 126.

As noted above, each worker bot is associated with an AI serviceprovider. For example, the worker bot A 122 is associated with the AIservice provider A 140, and the worker bot X 126 is associated with theAI service provider B 142. Two worker bots can be associated with thesame AI service providers or with different service providers. Forexample, the AI service provider A may be associated with both workerbot A 122 and worker bot B 124.

A worker bot communicates with a respective AI service provider throughan AI adapter. The AI adapter generates a query message for a querymessage received from the worker bot. Generating the query message caninclude reformatting the query into a format that is capable of beingconsumed by the respective AI service provider. For example, the AIadapter A 132 generates a first query message consumable by the AIservice provider A 140 for the first query received from the worker bot122. The AI adapter B 136 generates a second query message consumable bythe AI service provider B 142 for the second query received from theworker bot X 126.

In some implementations, the AI adapter generates a query message byadding context data to the query. The context data can include userprofile information and/or data derived from prior interactions with theuser who submitted the query. For example, the AI adapter A 132 maydetermine that in a prior dialogue user 106 had asked about fictionalcable company CABLECO, and add this information to the query messagethat is to be sent to the AI service provider A 140.

AI service provider that receives a query message from an AI adapterprocesses the query message and provides a response to the AI adapter.For example, the AI service provider A 140 receives the first querymessage from the AI adapter A 132 and provides a response message 134 tothe AI adapter A 132. The AI service provider B 142 receives the secondquery message from the AI adapter B 136 and provides a response message138 to the AI adapter B 136.

AI service providers can provide response messages by natural languageprocessing (NLP) the query messages. A response message can include avariety of information such as content of the query message, an intentbehind the query message, possible answers for the query message,entities that are listed in the query message, entities that can providean answer to the query message, etc.

For example, the response message 134 includes data A and data B. Data Bcan indicate the intent behind the first query message, and data A canindicate other information. For example, data B may indicate that thefirst message query inquires how to pay a cable bill from a particularcable company online, and data A may include information such ascustomer service contact information for the cable company, informationof alternative cable companies, regions that are supported by the cablecompany, etc. Similarly, the response message 138 includes data C anddata D, where data D indicates the intent behind the second querymessage, and data C includes other information. For example, data D mayindicate that the second message query inquires top ranked brands forparticular medicine, and data C may indicate information on side effectsof the medicine, proper age for taking the medicine, substitutes for themedicine, etc.

An AI adapter that receives a response message from a respective AIservice provider prepares the response message for being processed bythe knowledge retriever 150 and/or by worker bots selected by thedispatcher bot. The preparation process can include a filtering processto discard a portion of the response message that is not used by theknowledge retriever and/or the worker bots in generating an answer toquery. The filtering results in processing of less data and reducesresources and time required for data processing at the knowledgeretriever and/or worker bots.

For example, the AI adapter can discard data other than intent-relatedinformation on the response message. For example, the AI adapter 132 canbe configured to remove data A from the response message 134 and sendonly data B (which indicates the intent behind the first query message)to the knowledge retriever 150. Similarly, the AI adapter B 136 canremove data C from the response message 138 and send only data D to theknowledge retriever 150.

The preparation process of the response message can include generating arepresentation of the response message that is consumable by theknowledge retriever and/or by the respective worker bots. Generating therepresentation can include reformatting the response message into aformat (e.g., a standard format) associated with the knowledge retrieverand/or the respective worker bots. Generating the representation can beperformed before or after performing the filtering process. For example,the AI adapter A 132 generates a representation of data B (of theresponse message 134) that is consumable by the knowledge retriever 150.Such representation is referred to as data B′ herein. The AI adapter B136 generates a representation of data D (of the response message 138)that is consumable by the knowledge retriever 150. Such representationis referred to as data D′ herein.

Once the preparation process is completed, the AI adapter sends apackage message associated with the query, to the knowledge retriever.The package message can include identification information of the workerbot that was selected by the dispatcher bot to handle the query, and aquery message as prepared by the AI adapter. The package message canalso include an identification information of the AI adapter or arespective AI service provider, and/or the query (e.g., as received fromthe user device).

For example, the AI adapter A 132 sends a first package message thatincludes identification information of the worker bot A 122, data B′(associated with the response message 134), and identificationinformation of the AI adapter A 132 to the knowledge retriever 150. TheAI adapter B 136 sends a second package message that includes anidentification information of the worker bot X 126, the second querysubmitted by the user device 104, and data D′ (associated with theresponse message 138) to the knowledge retriever 150.

In response to receiving a package message from an AI adapter, theknowledge retriever 150 communicates with the worker bot that wasselected by the dispatcher bot for handling the query, to provide ananswer or solution to the query. For example, the knowledge retriever150 receives the first package message and sends the data B′ along withan indicator that refers data B′ to the first query, to the worker bot A122. The worker bot A 122 reviews the data B′ and the first query andgenerates a first answer for the first query. The knowledge retriever150 receives the second package message and sends data D′ and the secondquery to the worker bot X 126. The worker bot X 126 reviews data D′ andthe second query and generates a second answer for the second query.

A handling worker bot (i.e., a worker bot that is selected by thedispatcher bot to handle a query) uses the intent provided by arespective AI service provider to generate an answer to the query. Forexample, as noted above, the data B′ includes information indicatingthat the first query (submitted by the user device 102) was a questionon how to pay a cable bill from a particular cable company online. Inresponse, the worker bot A 122 can provide one or more websites (oraddresses to the websites) where such payment can be made. As anotherexample, the data D′ includes information indicating that the secondquery (submitted by the user device 104) inquires the top ranked brandsfor a particular medicine. In response, the worker bot X 126 can provideone or more brands that are considered as the highest ranked brands forthe particular medicine. The worker bot A or X can search online or usea database for generating such answers.

The handling worker bot returns the answer to the knowledge retrieverand the knowledge retriever provides the answer to the channel adapterto be delivered to the user submitted the query. Accordingly, the workerbot A 122 returns the first answer and the worker bot X 126 returns thesecond answer to the knowledge retriever 150. The knowledge retriever150 provides the first and the second answers to the channel adapter112.

The channel adapter 112 delivers a representation of the first answer tothe user device 102, and a representation of the second answer to theuser device 104 through their respective channels of communication. Forexample, the channel adapter 112 checks type of user device 102 anddetermines that the user device 102 is a mobile computing device, andchecks type of the user device 104 and determines that the user device104 is a personal computer. The channel adapter sends a representationof the first answer that is proper for being delivered on a mobilecomputing device to the user device 102, and a representation of thesecond answer that is proper for being delivered on a personal computerto the user device 104. The representation can be displayed, be played(e.g., as audio or video), or be used as part of a software programexecuted on the user device.

In some implementations, the knowledge retriever associates differentaction handlers to different queries, or to response messages receivedfrom different AI adapters. For example, the knowledge retriever 150includes action handler A 152 that can be associated with the firstquery submitted by the user device 102, and action handler X 154 thatcan be associated with the second query submitted by the user device104.

In some implementations, the knowledge retriever performs additionalprocesses on the package message to determine an action handlerassociated with a query. For example, in response to receiving thesecond package message from the AI adapter B 136, the knowledgeretriever 150 reviews a list of used cases that the worker bot X 126handles. If the knowledge retriever 150 determines that no other usedcase handled by the worker bot X 126 is relevant to the data D′, theknowledge retriever 150 assigns a new action handler (e.g., the actionhandler X 154) to the second query. If the knowledge retriever 150determines that a particular used case is relevant to the data D′ (e.g.,has an intent that is relevant to the intent included in the data D′, isrelated to a query submitted by user 108 or the user device 104, wassubmitted within a particular period of time before the submission ofthe second query, etc.), the knowledge retriever associates the secondquery to an action handler (e.g., action handler C, not shown) that wasassigned to the particular used case.

As noted above, the dispatcher bot is responsible for selecting a workerbot to handle a query. The dispatcher bot makes such selections based oncontent of the query and/or a history associated with the query. Thedispatcher bot can determine the subject matter of the query based on akeyword analysis of the query. For example, the dispatcher bot mayperform a natural language classification on the query, or maycommunicate with an AI service provider that can provide a naturallanguage classification. Alternatively, as explained in more detailsbelow, the dispatcher bot can select a default worker bot for handlingone or more new queries.

The dispatcher bot can use a history associated with a query todetermine the subject matter of the query. For example, when a query ispart of a series of communications with a particular user, thedispatcher bot may forward the query to the same worker bot that handledprior queries in the series of communications. Two queries can be partof the same series of communications if they are e.g., submitted by thesame user (or network of users), submitted within a predetermined periodof time, and/or less than a predetermined number of queries weresubmitted in between the two queries.

In case that the determined intent of a query by an AI service provideris beyond the handling capability of the worker bot that the dispatcherbot selected, the query can be reassigned to another worker bot that iscapable of handling the intent. For example, the dispatcher bot 114 mayreceive a third query from the user device 104 and determine that thethird query is associated with the second query (e.g., was submittedwithin five minutes after receiving the second query or within twominutes after providing an answer to the second query). Accordingly, thedispatcher bot 114 may assign the third query to bot X 126 as well. TheAI service provider 142 may determine that the intent behind the thirdquery is different from the one in the second query. For example, thethird query may inquires an account balance of user 108's checkingaccount, while the second query was about a medical issue.

When the intent is forwarded to the bot X 126, the bot X 126 can reviewthe intent of the third query and send a message to the knowledgeretriever indicating that the intent is not within the subject matterthat the bot X can handle. Alternatively, the knowledge retriever 150can check the subject matters associated with worker bot X and confirmthat the worker bot X is not a proper bot to answer the third query,before forwarding the intent to the worker bot X.

In response to determining that the worker bot X cannot answer the thirdquery, the knowledge retriever communicates with the dispatcher bot andrequests identification information of a worker bot that is capable ofhandling the third query. The dispatcher bot identifies, for example,worker bot B 124 as a worker bot that can handle accounting queries andprovides information of the worker bot B 124 to the knowledge retriever.In response, the knowledge retriever sends the third query, therespective intent, and other relevant information received from the AIadapter B 136 (e.g., name of the bank that is to be checked for theaccount balance) to the worker bot B 124.

In some implementations, when the dispatcher bot 114 does not find a newquery as being related to another query previously received, or when thedispatcher bot is not aware of the content of the new query, thedispatcher bot sends the query to a default worker bot. The dialogmanagement system 100 can be configured so that worker bots that areassociated with particular AI service providers be set as default workerbots. The particular AI service provider can be selected based onbusiness, economic, or performance incentives. For example, theparticular AI service provider may provide a more accurate analysis ofquery messages, may costs lower, or may be faster than other AI serviceproviders.

In some implementations, the dispatcher bot makes the worker botselection for a query based on a list of AI service providers that aredetermined as capable of processing the query. Each of the AI serviceproviders can be associated with a ranking. The ranking can be based ona general performance of the respective AI service provider, or can besubject matter related. Since the present dialog management system canselect AI service providers that the system can use for each subjectmatter, the dialog management system can provide a faster, moreaccurate, and/or less expensive services than a dialog system that usesfixed AI service providers.

For example, both AI service providers A and B may be able to processmedical related questions, but AI service provider B may be faster, costlower, or provide more accurate response for medical issues than the AIservice provider A. Consequently, the dispatcher bot selects AI serviceprovider B for medical issues and selects a worker bot associated withthe AI service provider B to handle queries directed to medical issues.

In some cases, the dispatcher bot 114 may determine that multiple workerbots are capable of handling a particular query. In such situations, thedispatcher bot can review rankings of the AI service providersassociated with the candidate worker bots and select the highest rankingAI service provider for processing the particular query. In case thatthe highest ranking worker bot is associated with only one candidateworker bot, the dispatcher bot selects this one candidate worker bot tohandle the particular query. In case that the highest ranking worker botis associated with more than one candidate worker bots, the dispatcherbot can select one of the candidate worker bots randomly, based on pastperformances of the candidate worker bots, and/or based on a currentwork load on each of the candidate worker bots.

In some implementations, the dialog management system 100 can switchbetween AI service providers based on cost, accuracy, and/or speed ofthe service providers. For example, the AI service provider A may changeits services or increase the cost of using it. In response, the dialogmanagement system 100 compares the services that the system can receivefrom the AI service provider A to the services that the system couldpotentially receive from other AI service providers had the dialogmanagement system replaced the AI service provider A with the other AIservice providers.

The dialog management system 100 may determine that it is morebeneficial to (at least partly) replace the AI service provider A 140with the AI service provider C 144. Consequently, the dialog managementsystem 100 reassigns one or more worker bots that were assigned to theAI service provider A, to AI service provider C. For example, the dialogmanagement system 100 can reassign worker bot A 122 to the AI serviceprovider C, while keeping the association of worker bot B 124 with theAI service provider A.

Accordingly, compared to a dialog system that uses fixed AI serviceproviders, the present dialog management system can adjust itself tokeep using one or more highest ranked AI service providers. Thus, evenif service of one or more AI service providers changes, the dialogmanagement system can update itself by adjusting assignment of theworker bots to high ranked AI service providers. Such configurationprovides the dialog management system a more efficient performance ascompared to dialog systems that use fixed AI service providers.

FIG. 2 depicts an example process 200 that can be executed in accordancewith implementations of the present disclosure. In some implementations,the example process 200 may be performed using one or morecomputer-executable programs executed using one or more computingdevices. The process 200 is performed by a dialog management system, forexample, the dialog management system 100.

A query is received (202). For example, the query can be submitted by auser (e.g. user 106) through a user computing device (e.g., user device102). The request can be received by a channel adapter (e.g., channeladapter 112) of the dialog management system.

A worker bot is determined to handle the query (204). For example, adispatcher bot (e.g., dispatcher bot 114) can select a worker bot (e.g.,worker bot A 122) to handle the query. The dispatcher bot can select theworker bot based on a history associated with the query. The history caninclude information on last communications of the dialog managementsystem with the same user. The selected worker bot is associated with aparticular AI service provider. The particular service provider can be acloud-based service provider, or an internal module and is capable ofNLP of the query.

A query message is generated based on the query (206). The query messagecan be generated by an AI adapter associated with the particular AIservice provider. For example, the worker bot A 122 is associated withthe AI service provider A 140 and the AI adapter A 132 generates a querymessage consumable by the AI service provider A 140.

The query message is sent to the particular AI service provider (208).For example, the AI adapter A 132 can send the query message to the AIservice provider A 140.

A response message is received from the particular AI service provider(210). The particular AI service provider processes the query messagereceived from the AI adapter and provides the response message to the AIadapter. The response message can include information about content ofthe query message such as the intent behind the query and the entitiesincluded as part of the query. The response message can also includeinformation other than the content of the query message such asalternative entities that can provide a solution to the query.

A representation of the response message is generated (212). Therepresentation of the response message is consumable by handling partsof the dialog management system that are responsible for providing ananswer to the query (e.g., a knowledge retriever, one or more workerbots). The AI adapter can generate the representation by reformattingthe response message into a format that is associated with the handlingparts of the dialog management system. In some implementations, the AIadapter filters a portion of the response message by discardinginformation other than the information that is used by the handlingparts. For example, the AI adapter can keep information related to thecontent of the query message and discard the rest of the responsemessage. The AI adapter provides the representation of the responsemessage (or representation of the filtered response message) to theknowledge retriever.

An answer (or a solution) to the query is generated (216). The answer isgenerated based on the representation of the response message providedby the AI provider. The knowledge retriever can forward therepresentation (or a portion of the representation that indicates thecontent of the query message) to the worker bot selected at 204 andreceive an answer from the worker bot.

The answer is provided for output (218). For example, the knowledgeretriever 150 can forward the answer to the channel adapter 112, and thechannel adapter can provide the answer to the user device from which thequery was received at 202. The answer can be displayed, played as audio,or be used as part of a software program executed on the user device102.

FIG. 3 depicts a schematic diagram of an example computing system 300 inaccordance with implementations of the present disclosure. The system300 may be used to perform the operations described with regard to oneor more implementations of the present disclosure. For example, thesystem 300 may be included in any or all of the server components, orother computing device(s), discussed herein. The system 300 may includeone or more processors 310, one or more memories 320, one or morestorage devices 330, and one or more input/output (I/O) devices 340. Thecomponents 310, 320, 330, 340 may be interconnected using a system bus350.

The processor 310 may be configured to execute instructions within thesystem 300. The processor 310 may include a single-threaded processor ora multi-threaded processor. The processor 310 may be configured toexecute or otherwise process instructions stored in one or both of thememory 320 or the storage device 330. Execution of the instruction(s)may cause graphical information to be displayed or otherwise presentedvia a user interface on the I/O device 340.

The memory 320 may store information within the system 300. In someimplementations, the memory 320 is a computer-readable medium. In someimplementations, the memory 320 may include one or more volatile memoryunits. In some implementations, the memory 320 may include one or morenon-volatile memory units.

The storage device 330 may be configured to provide mass storage for thesystem 300. In some implementations, the storage device 330 is acomputer-readable medium. The storage device 330 may include a floppydisk device, a hard disk device, an optical disk device, a tape device,or other type of storage device. The I/O device 340 may provide I/Ooperations for the system 300. In some implementations, the I/O device340 may include a keyboard, a pointing device, or other devices for datainput. In some implementations, the I/O device 340 may include outputdevices such as a display unit for displaying graphical user interfacesor other types of user interfaces.

The features described may be implemented in digital electroniccircuitry, or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or incombinations of them. The apparatus may be implemented in a computerprogram product tangibly embodied in an information carrier (e.g., in amachine-readable storage device) for execution by a programmableprocessor; and method steps may be performed by a programmable processorexecuting a program of instructions to perform functions of thedescribed implementations by operating on input data and generatingoutput. The described features may be implemented advantageously in oneor more computer programs that are executable on a programmable systemincluding at least one programmable processor coupled to receive dataand instructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a datastorage system, at least one input device, and at least one outputdevice. A computer program is a set of instructions that may be used,directly or indirectly, in a computer to perform a certain activity orbring about a certain result. A computer program may be written in anyform of programming language, including compiled or interpretedlanguages, and it may be deployed in any form, including as astand-alone program or as a module, component, subroutine, or other unitsuitable for use in a computing environment.

Suitable processors for the execution of a program of instructionsinclude, by way of example, both general and special purposemicroprocessors, and the sole processor or one of multiple processors ofany kind of computer. Generally, a processor will receive instructionsand data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both.Elements of a computer may include a processor for executinginstructions and one or more memories for storing instructions and data.Generally, a computer may also include, or be operatively coupled tocommunicate with, one or more mass storage devices for storing datafiles; such devices include magnetic disks, such as internal hard disksand removable disks; magneto-optical disks; and optical disks. Storagedevices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructionsand data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way ofexample semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flashmemory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. Theprocessor and the memory may be supplemented by, or incorporated in,application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

To provide for interaction with a user, the features may be implementedon a computer having a display device such as a cathode ray tube (CRT)or liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor for displaying information tothe user and a keyboard and a pointing device such as a mouse or atrackball by which the user may provide input to the computer.

The features may be implemented in a computer system that includes aback-end component, such as a data server, or that includes a middlewarecomponent, such as an application server or an Internet server, or thatincludes a front-end component, such as a client computer having agraphical user interface or an Internet browser, or any combination ofthem. The components of the system may be connected by any form ormedium of digital data communication such as a communication network.Examples of communication networks include, e.g., a local area network(LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and the computers and networks formingthe Internet.

The computer system may include clients and servers. A client and serverare generally remote from each other and typically interact through anetwork, such as the described one. The relationship of client andserver arises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

In addition, the logic flows depicted in the figures do not require theparticular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults. In addition, other steps may be provided, or steps may beeliminated, from the described flows, and other components may be addedto, or removed from, the described systems. Accordingly, otherimplementations are within the scope of the following claims.

A number of implementations of the present disclosure have beendescribed. Nevertheless, it will be understood that variousmodifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe present disclosure. Accordingly, other implementations are withinthe scope of the following claims.

1. (canceled)
 2. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving aquery; dynamically selecting a particular worker bot to handle the querybased at least on (i) data that associates the particular worker botwith a subject matter of the query, and (ii) historical latency data orcost data associated with a particular cloud-based, third party AIservice provider that is configured to provide a natural languageprocessing of the query and that is assigned to the particular workerbot; generating a query message based on the query; sending the querymessage to the particular cloud-based, third party AI service provider;receiving a response message from the particular cloud-based, thirdparty AI service provider, the response message includes first data thatindicates content of the query message; generating a representation ofthe response message that is consumable by a knowledge retriever; andsending the representation of the response message to the particularworker bot, and in response: receiving the answer for the query from theparticular worker bot, and forwarding the answer to the channel adapter;and providing, by the channel adapter, the answer for output.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein a dispatcher bot determines the particularworker bot based on a keyword analysis of the query.
 4. The method ofclaim 3, wherein the dispatcher bot performs speech recognition on thequery.
 5. The method of claim 2, comprising consulting, by a dispatcherbot, a list of cloud-based AI service providers that are indicated ascapable of determining content of the query.
 6. The method of claim 2,wherein a dispatcher bot selects a highest ranking AI service providerfrom among multiple candidate AI service providers that are indicated ascapable of determining content of the query.
 7. The method of claim 2,wherein generating query message comprises reformatting the query into aformat that is capable of being consumed by the particular cloud-basedAI service provider.
 8. The method of claim 2, wherein generating thequery message comprises adding context data that is derived from priorinteractions with a user that submitted the query.
 9. The method ofclaim 2, wherein generating the query message comprises adding userprofile information.
 10. The method of claim 2, wherein generating therepresentation of the response message comprises reformatting theresponse message into a standard format that is associated with theknowledge retriever.
 11. The method of claim 2, wherein the first dataincludes information about intent associated with the query.
 12. Themethod of claim 2, wherein providing the answer comprises providing, fordisplay, a representation of the answer for output to a user that askedthe query.
 13. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium coupledto one or more processors and having instructions stored thereon which,when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or moreprocessors to perform operations, the operations comprising: receiving aquery; dynamically selecting a particular worker bot to handle the querybased at least on (i) data that associates the particular worker botwith a subject matter of the query, and (ii) historical latency data orcost data associated with a particular cloud-based, third party AIservice provider that is configured to provide a natural languageprocessing of the query and that is assigned to the particular workerbot; generating a query message based on the query; sending the querymessage to the particular cloud-based, third party AI service provider;receiving a response message from the particular cloud-based, thirdparty AI service provider, the response message includes first data thatindicates content of the query message; generating a representation ofthe response message that is consumable by a knowledge retriever; andsending the representation of the response message to the particularworker bot, and in response: receiving the answer for the query from theparticular worker bot, and forwarding the answer to the channel adapter;and providing, by the channel adapter, the answer for output.
 14. Themedium of claim 13, wherein a dispatcher bot determines the particularworker bot based on a keyword analysis of the query.
 15. The medium ofclaim 14, wherein the dispatcher bot performs speech recognition on thequery.
 16. The medium of claim 13, comprising consulting, by adispatcher bot, a list of cloud-based AI service providers that areindicated as capable of determining content of the query.
 17. The mediumof claim 13, wherein a dispatcher bot selects a highest ranking AIservice provider from among multiple candidate AI service providers thatare indicated as capable of determining content of the query.
 18. Themedium of claim 13, wherein generating query message comprisesreformatting the query into a format that is capable of being consumedby the particular cloud-based AI service provider.
 19. The medium ofclaim 13, wherein generating the query message comprises adding contextdata that is derived from prior interactions with a user that submittedthe query.
 20. The medium of claim 13, wherein generating the querymessage comprises adding user profile information.
 21. A systemcomprising: a computing device; and a computer-readable storage devicecoupled to the computing device and having instructions stored thereonwhich, when executed by the computing device, cause the computing deviceto perform operations, the operations comprising: receiving a query;dynamically selecting a particular worker bot to handle the query basedat least on (i) data that associates the particular worker bot with asubject matter of the query, and (ii) historical latency data or costdata associated with a particular cloud-based, third party AI serviceprovider that is configured to provide a natural language processing ofthe query and that is assigned to the particular worker bot; generatinga query message based on the query; sending the query message to theparticular cloud-based, third party AI service provider; receiving aresponse message from the particular cloud-based, third party AI serviceprovider, the response message includes first data that indicatescontent of the query message; generating a representation of theresponse message that is consumable by a knowledge retriever; andsending the representation of the response message to the particularworker bot, and in response: receiving the answer for the query from theparticular worker bot, and forwarding the answer to the channel adapter;and providing, by the channel adapter, the answer for output.